Google and Adblock Plus contract no longer violates German competition law

German competition authorities have approved the cooperation between Eyeo and Google. The authorities were investigating Eyeo’s agreement with Google to whitelist Google’s ads, as it was detrimental to Eyeo.

The German Bundeskartellamt has approved the collaboration with its Austrian counterpart after Eyeo and Google amended their whitelisting agreement. The competition authorities investigated the agreement because it contained additional clauses that limited Eyeo’s ability to expand and develop Adblock Plus. The parties concluded a new agreement without the relevant restrictions, which allowed the authorities to close the case, the Bundeskartellamt reports.

As part of its Adblock Plus service, Eyeo provides an opportunity for major advertisers to be whitelisted if they pay and provide ads that Eyeo believes are “acceptable.” Adblock Plus users will then see those ads in their browser by default, unless they explicitly prevent this.

Google was one of Eyeo’s first customers, but now other major advertisers are also customers of the company, such as Amazon and Microsoft. Cologne-based Eyeo charges thirty percent of its advertising revenue to whitelist companies.

Andreas Mundt, chairman of the Bundeskartellamt, says it is understandable that consumers want to control the type and amount of online advertising. “The distribution of ad blockers is part of the competitive process in online advertising services. Contractual arrangements aimed at limiting the distribution of ad blockers are therefore unacceptable from a competition point of view.”

Last year, the German Bundesgerichtshof already ruled that Eyeo is not breaking the law with its service to block internet advertisements.